Another what do you think of this website?

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
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I'm putting together a site for my cousin's law firm. Things to note

http://www.mgarg.com/martin/index.php

is the site

* I know its not english, its lorem ipsum
* I'm going to put a logo on the top
* The pics on the right are place holders

**this is just a template, i'm really looking for some feedback.

Thanks.
 

yobarman

Lifer
Jan 11, 2001
11,642
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kinda plain.. some people have a hard time reading white text on dark backgrounds. Could give more critique if the logo was there.
 
D

Deleted member 4644

Looks like a good start. However, I would center the page. On my browser its not centered in the window. Also, it looks fairly plain. If you want to get high end clients, you need it to look smoother.

Also, you photos are pixelated, which looks bad. Resize them in photoshop, not with the web editor.
 

hjo3

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
7,354
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A lot of blank space... it'd be nice if you at least centered the content...
Screenshot

EDIT: Also, that text would look better if it were justified IMHO.
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
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how would I make it work for all browsers/resolutions? use % in width for the tables?
 

Rayden

Senior member
Jun 25, 2001
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It is fairly boring and plain.

It uses tables for layout.

Web Style Guidehttp://www.webstyleguide.com/
Layout page 1http://www.bluerobot.com/
Layout page 2http://maxdesign.com.au/presentation/page_layouts/

Do some research on layout design.

Although, it is not a terrible design. If it was flushed out, it would not be too bad.
 

DrVos

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2002
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You could probably make the site look a lot more interesting by using photographs of the staff or the law offices in the header. This would give visitors to the site a taste of who they will be working with and will also give the site a bit more personality.

I'd also suggest to change the bg color of the text areas. light text on dark is notoriously difficult to read and the blue is coming off a bit strong. I'd suggest investigating a palette with softer hues (may something between the blue you chose and a light gray.

You should also consider changing the bg of the site, creating a 1px wide gif that mimics the blue/white/blue thing you having going on and having it extend 100% to the right will help integrate the front to the back alot better.

Good start! keep us updated on your work!
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
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Originally posted by: Rayden

Although, it is not a terrible design. If it was flushed out, it would not be too bad.

Thanks everyone for your input!

Rayden : what do you mean by if it was flushed out?


btw, this is what i came up with in a half hour... so it's a huge WIP
 
Aug 25, 2004
11,151
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1. another vote for centering... go for a total width of 760px or close.
2. slightly bigger font.
3. what's with the white bar just above "welcome". not that it's bad or anything, i'm just curious.
 

Rayden

Senior member
Jun 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
Originally posted by: Rayden

Although, it is not a terrible design. If it was flushed out, it would not be too bad.

Thanks everyone for your input!

Rayden : what do you mean by if it was flushed out?


btw, this is what i came up with in a half hour... so it's a huge WIP



I can see it being a very nice layout, but there are a lot of things that needed to be done in order to accompish this.


Here are some thoughts.

  • I agree that it should be centered. Look into using CSS instead of tables for layout.
  • Try to build for 800x600 or 1024x768 depending on who you think your audience will be.
  • I think it might be more interesting to build the color scheme around white, with blue highlights and accents. This would deal with the issue of white text on a dark background, which I agree is not the best.
  • The buttons on the top should give more of a visual due that they are to be clicked on. Look at how Dan Cederholm does his buttons.
  • The font type is fairly generic and boring. Look for something more interesting, yet still appropriate to your content.
  • What if you had some sort of visual structure around your images? So that they are not simply floating in the large content area.


It is not a bad starting position, but in its current state it is nothing to be excited about. I hope these ideas are helpful.